Congress Completes Action on FAA Extension

Just two days before the U.S. FAA’s operating authority was set to expire on July 15, Congress passed the 14-month extension bill that is drawing praise for providing stability and including measures such as third-class aeromedical reform but also garnering criticism for failing to address other key measures such as certification reform.

The Senate yesterday overwhelmingly passed the extension in an 89-4 vote, following the House’s approval by voice vote on Monday. Like their counterparts in the House, Senate Commerce Committee leaders touted the bill as providing “important safety, security and time-sensitive improvements for the U.S. aviation system.” Committee chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and ranking Democrat Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) in particular pointed to the number of security measures included. “Today, Congress passed the most significant airport security reform bill in over a decade,” said Thune. “Reforms in our bill will help ensure that attacks like those in Brussels and Istanbul do not happen in American airports.”

The measures include mandates for security assessments for overseas airports, increased standards for flights headed to the U.S., increased background checks of aviation employees and expansion of the TSA PreCheck program.

For general aviation, the focus has been on the bill’s inclusion of third-class medical reform. “This is the most significant legislative victory for general aviation in decades,” said AOPA President Mark Baker. “These reforms will provide relief to hundreds of thousands of pilots from an outdated, costly and unnecessarily burdensome system.”

The provision calls for the FAA to release a rulemaking within six months to exempt certain pilots (including those who have obtained a license within the past 10 years) from third-class medical requirements, as long as they meet certain conditions such as having a medical exam by their own doctor.

AOPA also praised a measure calling on the FAA to require marking of towers between 50 and 200 feet tall to improve their visibility to low-flying aircraft.

Business aviation advocates backed the move to ensure continuity at the FAA, but they acknowledged that the measure pushes off action on other key provisions such as regulatory and certification reforms that had been a centerpiece of earlier FAA reauthorization proposals. GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce has called the bill a “missed opportunity” to support manufacturing jobs.

“Although a long-term FAA reauthorization bill that included important certification reforms would have been the best outcome in this debate, we commend House and Senate leaders for recognizing that resources must continue to be provided for the agency’s critical safety, infrastructure, modernization and other programs,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.

“Some key aviation issues remain unresolved so we will continue to work with Congress toward enactment of more comprehensive, long-term legislation that includes improving the agency’s regulatory consistency and other provisions that will assist the agency and aviation businesses to operate more efficiently,” added William Deere, NATA senior v-p for government and external affairs.

But also notable to the advocates was the absence of a measure to create an independent air traffic organization. That also was a focal point of the earlier House reauthorization measure. “We are particularly appreciative that lawmakers rejected a divisive House proposal to create a corporatized air traffic control system,” NATA president and CEO Tom Hendricks said. “The cost for that victory was that many non-controversial provisions to enhance aviation safety, agency efficiency and our country’s economic competitiveness must wait until next year.”